Love is not so pointless after all
by Icklepenguin-x
Summary: A homunculus can never love... or so people say. When someone catches Envy after the death of Maes Hughes, he expects a short-lived fight... what he gets is something much more long-term. First fic; EnvyxOC.
1. Chapter 1

Humans.

Pesky little creatures, really; always getting themselves into things that are absolutely none of their business, and they're always too stupid to realise... well, how stupid they are. They let their curiosity, their _emotions_ get the better of them. And that's when people start getting hurt.

Take that Hughes guy, for instance. He poked around too much, and... well, look where he ended up.

I'm almost glad that Lust didn't finish him off, really; killing an idiot is so damn satisfying, especially when you get to mess with their mind first.

This is where emotions come into it again. When I'm being my regular self? Sure, he'd have no problem with practically pumping me full of bullets. Take on the form of one of those little military dogs, he gets hesitant. Take on the form of his wife... he's the one who ends up with a bullet in his chest.

It's that look in their eyes that makes it so hard not to smile when you watch them. I think, maybe, I was putting off killing him just because I was enjoying that look in his eyes – that look that showed just how conflicted he was. Even though he _knew_ it was a homunculus standing in front of him, he couldn't bring himself to do a thing, all because I looked like that precious little woman he calls his wife.

Love is so pointless.

I get a buzz every time I get to kill someone; that feeling where you're on top of the world, and nobody's going to get you down. I felt like I could do absolutely anything – fuck, I _could_ do anything! I was a fucking homunculus, for crying out loud. We're hardly the easiest things to stop.

And so it was with nothing but a mild irritation that I looked around when I heard footsteps behind me. Someone had seen me – but that was no big deal. Humans are so very easy to deal with...

Unfortunately, sometimes people aren't quite as human as you think they are.


	2. Chapter 2

_(Hey, guys! I hope everyone who read the last chapter enjoyed it. Here's the next one, and I'm really hoping I'm getting things right so far – I'm rusty on the manga and having to use Brotherhood and the vague episode outlines that are on wiki to jog my memory, so... yeah. Some parts – not too many, I hope – might be a bit screwy timeline-wise. I'm doing my best, though~_

_This switches POVs for a while and at this point Ed and Al would be in hospital in Central after the 5th laboratory exploded... the first chapter was more of a prologue. So, um, yes. Enjoy~)_

East City Station was, as usual, bustling with people. In amongst all the regular people, the redhead in the military uniform felt a little out of place as he waited on platform five. At least he wasn't going to have to wait much longer. The train was due any minute now...

As it pulled up alongside the platform, the train let out a great hiss of steam before finally coming to a stop. The doors slid open, and the lieutenant only had to wait a few seconds to find who he was waiting for.

She was shorter than he'd expected, and younger, too – he would have guessed around eighteen – but she certainly fit the description the colonel had given him. Brown hair and hazel eyes, though her fringe covered the left one. They glanced at each other, eyes meeting briefly, and the redhead smiled faintly as he strolled over towards her.

"Miss Kira Winters?" The girl nodded and he smiled, holding out one hand to her. "Lieutenant Arthur Stone." Kira shook his hand, smiling back at him.

"Pleasure to meet you, lieutenant," she said, and Stone could've sworn she dragged out the S a bit longer than what might have been normal, but he shook it off.

"Want me to take your bag?" Stone gestured towards the bag slung over the girl's shoulder.

"I can manage for myself, thank you."

"In that case, the car's waiting for us outside. If you'll follow me, please."

He led her out of the station, opened the car door for her and climbed in himself once she was inside. He ran one hand through his hair idly as they set off, and for a few minutes neither of them said a word.

"So," Kira said eventually, breaking the silence. "What does the colonel want me for?"

"Beats me." The lieutenant shrugged. "He just told me I had to come and collect you from the station. He didn't give any details."

Kira let out a small sigh. "How frustrating. Still," she said, glancing up from picking a bit of dirt under one nail and smiling at Stone. "It'll be a surprise. I like surprises."

They fell silent again after that, watching the world outside go by as the journey seemed to drag on. Eventually, though, they reached East City HQ; a few ID checks and several minutes later, Kira found herself waiting outside an office she assumed belonged to the colonel.

After waiting for what felt like an age, and becoming increasingly annoyed with Stone's awkward attempts to make conversation, the door opened, and Kira was relieved when the man in blue uniform that emerged told her she could go in.

"_Now_ you can take my bag," she said, tossing her bag over at Stone with a slight smirk before disappearing into the room. The door swung shut behind her, and despite how serious the situation quote obviously was, Kira was feeling anything _but_ serious. She sauntered over to the chair opposite the desk and sat down, folding her arms and resting one leg over the other.

"Kira Winters." The figure in the chair on the other side of the desk glanced up from the files he was leafing through, giving Kira a smile that she thought looked very forced. "I trust your journey went well?"

Kira ignored the question. "What do you want me for, Mustang? It's been a while since I was here."

Mustang actually laughed at this, which irked Kira a little, but she didn't show anything outwardly. "Two years isn't that long," he chuckled, resting his chin in his hand. "How old are you now? Eighteen? Nineteen?"

"Where is this going?"

Mustang leant back in his chair, suddenly looking serious again. "We're having a little problem with a certain Ishbalan. He's only one man, but he's... proving to be quite a challenge."

"So you want me to capture him?" Kira smirked. "Let me get this straight, colonel. You could ask anyone to go after this man, and you pick an eighteen year old girl who's only had her State Alchemist license for two years?"

"Rumour has it that you have certain... abilities... that could make you a little more effective in battle with this man." Kira raised an eyebrow at this, genuinely shocked. He'd done his homework, then. "And your name is actually quite a giveaway... Dragon Alchemist." Mustang smirked, and a brief staring contest between the two of them ensued; eventually Kira turned away, sighing frustratedly.

"What's his name, then?"

"We don't know." _Well, that's a huge help,_ Kira thought to herself. "We've nicknamed him Scar." Mustang leant forwards, plucking a piece of paper from the pile in front of him and pushing it across the table towards Kira. She took it and studied it for a moment. It was a sketch, showing a man in sunglasses and with an X-shaped scar across his forehead. Other, smaller sketches around the edges showed a tattooed arm, though the actual patterns of the tattoo seemed to vary, as if they weren't actually sure which was the real one. Still, she had enough to go on. She looked at the sketches for a moment longer before placing it back down on the table.

"He's been targeting State Alchemists," Mustang continued. "And so far Edward Elric is the only one to meet him and live through it, and even then only due to military intervention."

Kira sucked air in through her teeth. It was... certainly going to be a challenge. But maybe that was what she needed; the boredom of being at home doing research for months on end had certainly been getting to her recently. Not that any of it mattered; she was a State Alchemist. She had no choice. "Is he still in the city?" she asked. Mustang nodded.

"So," he said, leaning forwards again. "Do you think you can handle him?"

"I'll see what I can do." Mustang smiled, then began tidying away the papers that littered the desk.

"In that case, you are dismissed. I'll have someone find you a spare room somewhere for you to stay, but for now... you're free to do as you please, as long as you remain within the city." Kira paused before getting up, almost expecting him to say something else; but no words were spoken, and so she got to her feet and headed for the door.

"Oh, and Winters.." Kira stopped, one hand on the door handle, and turned her head slightly.

"Yes, colonel?"

"Keep an eye out for Scar. You never know where he might show up next."


End file.
